Building and Marketing a Successful Self-Storage Website

Know SEO. Research what keywords are being searched in your industry and what your competition is doing. Create valuable content from your research results. This is the key to achieving SEO and higher rankings when people search. You need some pictures on your website for aesthetic purposes, but keywords are the nuts and bolts of SEO.

Consider paid searches. When done well, paid searches can be hugely successful. They’re expensive and time-consuming, but when done correctly with split testing ads and keyword phrases, they can generate a lot of traffic to your website.

Make friends. Consider doing link-building campaigns and getting other websites to link to yours. Using “link bait” such as neat industry widgets, article syndication, press releases, blogs and directories can help with this.

I Now Pronounce You Website and Facility

Once your website has the perfect marriage of attractiveness and solid information, spread the word. Announce your new website and everything it has to offer.

This is a great time to make use of social-media marketing. Set up that Facebook page and Twitter account. Send out press releases to the local media. Write a blog about your new website. These items boost your website’s SEO. Put up banners such as “Find us on Facebook,” outside and inside your facility. This will help you attract new tenants who may need self-storage now or down the road, and will let current customers know you have a new website for their convenience.

Don’t Let Yourself Go

A good website requires maintenance. Changing pictures, adding a new coupon, running campaigns and keeping things fresh is extremely important, along with keeping an eye on your SEO. How is your website popping up? Does it need a little extra work to show up ahead of your competitors? Things can change quickly. Also, make sure you’re keeping up with your social-media marketing. Don’t fall into the trap of setting it up and then never updating it.

Attaining a fresh website and a results-driven Internet-marketing platform isn’t easy. If you don’t have time to become an expert, hire a reputable marketing company or work with a third-party management company who can take care of it for you. Working with Internet-marketing specialists can help you achieve the results you desire, converting leads and increasing customer satisfaction. Who doesn’t love that?

Julie Purcell is the marketing and advertising manager for Investment Real Estate Management (IREM), a third-party management and consulting company that offers expertise in operations, marketing, Web presence and more to the self-storage industry. IREM manages more than 45 properties in six states. For more information, call 717.779.0804; visit www.irellc.com.